California rejects plan to force porn actors to wear condoms, dental dams and goggles

Porn star Ela Darling tells regulators that performers could think for themselves and there was no ‘big daddy porn boss’ telling them what to do

Q&A: The Kentucky lawmaker who wants men to ask wives’ permission to take Viagra

State representative Mary Lou Marzian hopes tongue-in-cheek bill will make her male counterparts reconsider how laws police women’s bodies and sexualities

Spiky Australian grass the key to making better condoms, say researchers

Fibres from spinifex are being used to make condoms more reliable and as thin as a human hair, according to University of Queensland research

Family planning is ‘critical link’ in eradicating poverty

Reproductive health experts want more access to modern contraceptives to prevent population bulge that would undermine efforts to tackle global poverty

A sex toy for women’s health: dildo designer talks the joy of conception

Stephanie Berman is among a growing number of entrepreneurs exploring new technologies for a market that is no longer taboo

Something for the weekend, sir? The latest in sex tech

You can control everything from your heating to your exercise routine with an app, so why not bluetooth your sex life? Robina Gibb reports on the latest tech from the Sexual Health Expo in Los Angeles

‘Urban myth’ that lesbian women don’t need pap smears is a health risk – study

University of Sydney study finds that lesbian women are being tested less for virus that can cause cervical cancer and sexually transmitted disease in general

10% of female US college students experienced sexual assault in 2015

New study found that 4% of students had been raped during that academic year and more than 5% had encountered sexual battery

The secret sexual health doctor’s diary: ‘The waiting room is bursting at the seams’

A registrar working in a sexual health clinic offers a snapshot of her working week, from advising a 16-year-old girl with a newborn baby to introducing baffled students to the vaginal ring

I’ve seen enough genitals to know we are all truly unique

The secret life of a sexual health nurse: It is surprising how quickly you get used to asking people directly about their sex lives while keeping a straight face

Cuts to sexual health services will lead to STI ‘explosion’, warn experts

Labour analysis predicts £40m less will be spent on testing and treating infection in 2016 despite rates of gonorrhoea and syphilis soaring

Animal-themed condoms aim to slow population growth – with grandpa’s help

Environmentalists have handed out 40,000 free ‘endangered species condoms’ on student campuses, farmers’ markets and even via elderly people

Gonorrhoea could become untreatable, says chief medic

Dame Sally Davies asks GPs and pharmacies to ensure they are prescribing correct drugs after 16 cases of drug-resistant strain of STI this year

Humanitarian response treats women’s health ‘as an afterthought’, says the UN

UN population fund says in times of crisis, women and girls are left in precarious situation with lack of pregnancy, childbirth and family planning services

New York governor calls for former Aids ‘epicenter’ to lead effort to end disease

The governor marked World Aids Day in the city that has endured more than three decades as the ‘epicenter of the disease’ with a passionate call to action